When Sulong, a penniless man, strikes it rich by winning the lottery, he begins to lead a high life and is duped into a friendship with a gang of swindlers. Their maneuvers to cheat him of his property are thwarted by their own internal rivalry. Apologetic for his earlier behaviour, Sulong decides to invest his riches in a “kong-si” soap factory.

It isn’t clear in the film which soap factory was used for the location shoot, but we thought we could render a guess by searching through the newspapers archive to find out if any soap factories were operating in Singapore in the 1950s. We realized that the soap-making industry was pretty active then in Singapore, was even producing a surplus beyond local consumption to export to regional markets. Leader players in the industry included Lam Soon (at Robertson Quay and Jurong Road), Ho Hong that produces the ‘Double Arrow’ and ‘Palm Tree’ brands (at Peng Siang Quay, expunged; its site near the Singapore River is now occupied by Copthorne King’s Hotel), and Gim Cheong which manufactures the ‘Ayam’ brand (at No. 359 Holland Road; now a condominium). So, which one of these was Istana Impian filmed in?